Lisa Sandberg: The hidden Democrats of Midland

FORT WORTH  Back home in Midland, Chris McCormack is often introduced to people as the only liberal in town.

But that couldn’t possibly be true. At the Texas Democratic Party convention in Fort Worth, he showed up with 12 like-minded liberals, and all of them hailed from Midland  the same West Texas Republican stronghold that produced George W. Bush and Tom Craddick.

“There are Democrats in Midland,” McCormack said. “They’re just hidden.”

Staffing the Midland County Democratic Party table, McCormack, a 55-year-old lawyer, clearly enjoyed being among his peers.

“It’s always nice to feel part of the crowd and get reinforcement that you’re on the right track,” he said.

But he’s not running to get away from a county where President Bush beat John Kerry by a more than 4-1 margain in 2004. (Bush got 36,585 votes, Kerry 8,005.)

There’s something fun about being considered a little … different. And to be fair, Democrats can walk away with as much as 25 percent of the vote in some races, McCormack said. They don’t win but they do have a base.

Still, he has no illusions. His party might arguably be making inroads elsewhere in the state, but in Midland? “I don’t think it’s going to shift in our generation,” McCormack said.